The Big Bang Theory Cast Fights for Skin Cancer Awareness

Usually, people associate “nerds” will being generally nice people. Though the cast of the Big Bang Theory just play nerds on television, they don’t let their fame and fortunate shield them from the realities of life. Recently, the cast of the show found out about a fan that had passed away from skin cancer. Cancer is an extremely ugly disease and discriminates no one. The young girl was only 17 years old. Distraught by this fact, the BBT crew decided to act.

The young fan, Claire Marie Wagonhurst, would watch the show as an escape from the exhausting treatments she had to endure. Claire’s mother and father created the Claire Marie Foundation in order to promote awareness and to encourage others to start screening their children for what could be precancerous moles early on.

A friend of the family just so happened to work on the set of the Big Bang Theory and told the cast about Claire. A PSA for the illness was put together for an upcoming episode.

Kaley Cuoco appears first by giving the audience a statistic on the disease. “Adolescent melanoma is truly a silent killer with 90 per cent of new cases occurring between the ages of 10 and 19,” The rest of the cast members follow suit explaining the disease, how it effects young people, how it can go undetected, and what can be done about it.

It is Mayim Bialik, who plays Amy Farrah Fowler that gives certain information that caught my attention. She says that we regularly see a doctor and dentist, but we also need to put a dermatologist on that list. The general population probably doesn’t think much about their skin, unless there is a problem. We tend to only see a dermatologist when we notice something. But this is not a smart move, because it could be too late by then. Kunal Nayyar suggests that if you have a mole to get it checked once a year.

Skin cancer is the number two cancer in young people and although skin cancer affects all races and genders, people are not regularly screened for skin cancer in the same way that they are encouraged to get checked for breast or prostate cancer. Cancer doesn’t discriminate people. Or organs.

Besides doing something nice for a deceased fan, the cast of the Big Bang Theory did something great for the public and cancer patients in general. Melissa Rauch (Bernadette) points out in the PSA that skin cancer is the one type of cancer that can actually be seen. To not prevent it by being aware of it and seeing a doctor is an absolute tragedy.
To gain an upper hand over skin cancer, wear sunscreen every time you are out in the sun. Even if the weather outside is rainy or cloudy. The rays can still get to your skin. Avoid tanning booths. It may make you look good NOW, but you don’t want to have to pay for it LATER.

To learn more about skin cancer, its effects, and how it can be prevented, you can go to the Claire Marie Foundation website.